November 3rd, 2015

Daily Market Commentary

 

ECONOMIC NEWS

  • The Redbook Index, which measures same-store sales growth in US general merchandising companies, was reportedly up 0.1% and 1.9% in month-over-month and year-over-year terms, respectively.

Commodities:

  • Oil is near a bottom and global supplies look poised to close their gap with demand as investments in new production decline and consumption grows, according to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Daniel Yergin.
  • Aluminum rose for a third day after Alcoa Inc., the top U.S. producer, announced smelting and refining capacity cuts in the latest response to a global oversupply that’s pushed prices to a six-year low.

 

Canada:

  • Bombardier Inc. has increased lobbying of Canada’s federal government to an eight-year high, reinforcing its Ottawa connections as officials there prepare to review whether to join Quebec in helping bail out the struggling CSeries jet.

United States:

  • U.S. stock-index futures fell as investors assessed gains after the Nasdaq 100 Index hit a 15-year high and the Standard & Poor’s Index recovered the ground lost in the August selloff.
  • Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreased its estimate for reasonably possible legal costs in excess of reserves by 10 percent to $5.3 billion.
  • Activision Blizzard Inc. agreed to buy King Digital Entertainment Plc for $5.9 billion, unifying console and PC games Call of Duty and World of Warcraft with the leading mobile game Candy Crush Saga.

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International:

  • European equities were little changed after a rally that has helped them recoup about half the losses from a summer rout, as investors assessed prospects for economic growth and the outlook for stimulus.
  • Volkswagen AG rejected U.S. Environmental Protection Agency allegations that its cheating on diesel-emissions tests included Porsche and other larger vehicles, setting up a showdown with U.S. regulators as it seeks to repair its battered image.
  • Standard Chartered Plc will cut 17 percent of its workforce as soaring impairments add to Bill Winters’ woes, underlining the new chief executive officer’s challenge in restoring earnings growth as he taps investors for $5.1 billion. The shares plunged.
  • BMW AG posted a surprise increase in third-quarter profit as demand for cars including the X5 sport utility vehicle rose, helping it weather pressure from Mercedes-Benz.
  • UBS Group AG is reorganizing management and postponing a profitability target after reporting third-quarter profit that more than doubled. The shares fell.
  • Chinese stocks rose for the first time in six days in Hong Kong trading, led by financial and material companies, as global equities tracked gains in U.S. shares after the latter recouped all of their losses from China’s August shock yuan devaluation. Mainland equities fell.

*All information is taken from Bloomberg, unless otherwise noted.